United States v. Williams

• Decision Date: 14 December 2015
• Docket Number: No. 15–7114.,15–7114.
• Citation: 808 F.3d 253
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Lance Antonio WILLIAMS, Defendant–Appellant. John Donley Adams, Court–Assigned Amicus Counsel.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

808 F.3d 253

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v. Lance Antonio WILLIAMS, Defendant–Appellant.John Donley Adams, Court–Assigned Amicus Counsel.

No. 15–7114.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: Oct. 7, 2015.

Decided: Dec. 14, 2015.

ARGUED:Eric David Placke, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant.Robert Michael Hamilton, Office of the United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee. John Donley Adams, McGuireWoods LLP, Richmond, Virginia, as Court–Assigned Amicus Counsel. ON BRIEF:Louis C. Allen, Federal Public Defender, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee. Brian D. Schmalzbach, McGuirewoods LLP, Richmond, Virginia, for Amicus Curiae.

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KING and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge KING wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge THACKER joined. Chief Judge TRAXLER wrote a dissenting opinion.

KING, Circuit Judge:

Lance Antonio Williams appeals from the district court's denial of his motion for a reduced sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). Williams seeks the benefit of recent amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines and contends that the court in the Middle District of North Carolina erred when it ruled him ineligible for a sentence reduction. According to Williams, Guidelines Amendment 780, which revised the policy statement governing § 3582(c)(2) sentence reductions, renders him eligible for relief. The United States Attorney supports Williams's position in this appeal. As explained below, we vacate and remand.¹

I.

On March 3, 2008, Williams pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine base, in contravention of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Prior to his guilty plea, the United States Attorney filed a notice, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851, advising Williams and the district court that Williams's prior North Carolina drug conviction would be utilized to seek an enhanced penalty under § 841(b)(1)(A).²

The Probation Officer prepared Williams's presentence report (the "PSR") and recommended that he be sentenced to 240 months in prison.³ The PSR made that recommendation by starting at a base offense level of 30, predicated on a drug weight of fifty-six grams. The offense level was then lowered to reflect Williams's acceptance of responsibility, resulting in a final offense level of 27. With Williams's criminal history category of VI, the Guidelines advised a sentencing range of 130 to 162 months. The prosecutor's § 851 notice, however, triggered § 841(b)(1)(A)'s mandatory minimum sentence of 240 months. Because Williams's entire advisory Guidelines range fell below the statutory mandatory minimum sentence, his Guidelines sentence was the statutory minimum of 240 months. See USSG § 5G1.1(b) ("Where a statutorily required minimum sentence is greater than the maximum of the applicable guideline range, the statutorily required minimum sentence shall be the guideline sentence.").

Prior to the December 9, 2008 sentencing hearing, the prosecutors filed a motion for a downward departure, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e), recognizing Williams's substantial assistance to the authorities.⁴

On the prosecutors' recommendation, the court imposed a sentence of 180 months, reflecting a twenty-five percent reduction from the 240–month Guidelines sentence.

On May 9, 2012, more than three years after his conviction and sentencing, Williams filed a pro se motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The district court did not act on that motion until after the Probation Officer submitted a memorandum to the court on May 18, 2015, advising that Williams was eligible for a sentence reduction. On June 18, 2015, the court appointed a lawyer to represent Williams and ordered briefing on the sentence-reduction motion. Williams and the United States Attorney agreed that Williams was eligible for a sentence reduction under Guidelines Amendments 750 and 782—both of which reduced the offense level applicable to his conviction—due to the procedural changes introduced by Guidelines Amendment 780. See USSG app. C, amend. 780 (Supp.2014) (revising Guidelines to clarify § 3582(c)(2) eligibility for defendant sentenced below statutory minimum due to substantial-assistance departure).

By memorandum opinion of July 10, 2015, the district court denied Williams's § 3582(c)(2) motion. See United States v. Williams, No. 1:07–cr–00429 (M.D.N.C. July 10, 2015), ECF No. 372 (the "Opinion"). The Opinion acknowledged that, based on Amendments 750 and 782, Williams's final offense level would be 21 instead of 27, resulting in a Guidelines range of 77 to 96 months. Nonetheless, the court ruled that Williams had not satisfied the eligibility requirements of § 3582(c)(2) because his 180–month sentence was based on a statutory mandatory minimum and a statutorily authorized departure for substantial assistance, rather than on a Guidelines range that had been subsequently lowered. The court reached that conclusion in reliance on our 2009 decision in United States v. Hood, 556 F.3d 226 (4th Cir.2009).

Williams filed a timely notice of appeal, and we possess jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a).

II.

We review de novo a district court's ruling on the scope of its legal authority under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). See United States v. Mann, 709 F.3d 301, 304 (4th Cir.2013).

III.

On appeal, Williams maintains that he is eligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The district court, in its Opinion denying Williams's sentence-reduction motion, disagreed with that contention. The amicus counsel defends the position of the district court in this proceeding. Williams and the United States Attorney counter that the court misunderstood the scope of its authority under § 3582(c)(2), because, inter alia, Amendment 780, promulgated in 2014, revised the Sentencing Commission's policy statement governing eligibility for a sentence reduction. As a result, they contend that the court's denial of Williams's § 3582(c)(2) motion should be vacated.

A.

In order to properly assess Williams's eligibility for a sentence reduction under § 3582(c)(2), we first identify the relevant principles governing such reductions. That discussion implicates the Supreme Court's mandate that a federal court determine a prisoner's eligibility under § 3582(c)(2) by adhering to the Commission's policy statements, and also involves the Commission's authority to dictate the proper application of the Guidelines.

1.

Congress created the Commission in 1984 to provide guidance, clarity, and fairness in sentencing. See 28 U.S.C. § 991(b). The Guidelines reflect the Commission's efforts to that end and assist the federal courts in imposing appropriate sentences on a case-by-case basis. To ensure that the Guidelines reflect current views on criminal behavior and account for revisions to statutory provisions, Congress has empowered the Commission to amend the Guidelines. See id. § 994(o ), (p). Those amendments are effective unless "otherwise modified or disapproved by Act of Congress." Id. § 994(p). When an amendment lowers the Guidelines range for a particular offense, the Commission must indicate whether and in what circumstances such amendment will have retroactive effect—that is, by "specify[ing] in what circumstances and by what amount the sentences of prisoners serving terms of imprisonment for the offense may be reduced."Id. § 994(u).

Congress has authorized the federal courts to grant sentence reductions based on the Commission's retroactive amendments through a narrow exception to the general rule that a court may not modify a defendant's sentence "once it has been imposed." See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). Pursuant thereto,

in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(o ), upon motion of the defendant ..., the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.

Id. § 3582(c)(2).

As the Supreme Court recognized in 2010, the "policy statement governing § 3582(c)(2) proceedings" is set forth in Guidelines section 1B1.10. See Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 819, 130 S.Ct. 2683, 177 L.Ed.2d 271 (2010). Section 1B1.10 lists the Guidelines amendments designated by the Commission for retroactive application in a § 3582(c)(2) proceeding. See USSG § 1B1.10(d). Pertinent here, a sentence reduction is not authorized unless one of those amendments has "the effect of lowering the defendant's applicable guideline range." USSG § 1B1.10(a)(2)(B). To determine whether a particular amendment has that effect, the sentencing court must "substitute only the amendments" rendered retroactive by the Commission and "leave all other guideline application decisions unaffected." Id. § 1B1.10(b)(1). When assessing a § 3582(c)(2) motion, the court must "use the version of [the] policy statement that is in effect on the date on which the court reduces the defendant's term of imprisonment." See id. § 1B1.10 cmt. n. 8.

In Dillon, the Supreme Court reinforced § 3582(c)(2)'s emphasis on the Commission's policy statements, and it spelled out a two-step inquiry for the review of sentence-reduction motions. See 560 U.S. at 827, 130 S.Ct. 2683. At the first step, the sentencing court must review "the Commission's instructions in § 1B1.10to determine the prisoner's eligibility for a sentence modification and the extent of the reduction authorized." Id. (emphasis added). If the court determines that the prisoner is eligible for a sentence reduction, the court moves to the...